Trapped
by kjt1
Summary: Sara gets slightly hurt at a crime scene and Grissom is forced to take action. GSR. Part 3 of 3 posted.
1. Part 1

Title:  Trapped

Rating:  PG-13

Spoilers:  Through S4, just to be safe

Summary:  Sara gets slightly hurt at a crime scene and Grissom is forced to take action.  GSR.

Disclaimer:  I own nothing CSI related, no matter how hard I wish

Thanks:  A big thank you to Ellen for the beta.  Also, thanks to everyone who sent me feedback for my first CSI fic 'Masking the Truth', it was much appreciated.

Feedback:  Always appreciated

Part 1 of 3

----

Nick and Sara approached their crime scene with some dread, having only been told by Grissom that it was a decomp in the desert.  Their previous foray was still fresh in their mind, the thought of who they had lovingly named 'soup man' still caused them to shudder at the word 'decomp'.  The officers at the scene had assured them the body was not liquefied, but they were nonetheless filled with trepidation and were mentally calculating how many lemons were back at the lab for them to use in their showers when they returned.

"Looks like the officers were right," said Nick, crouching down beside the body.  "This guy isn't too far gone, though he does have a lovely covering of maggots."

Sara shook her head at Nick's lighthearted words and looked down at the body.  Sure enough, it was more or less intact, but watching maggots on a body was never a pleasurable sight and an involuntary shiver ran down her back.

"I'm gonna check the perimeter," she said, deciding that Nick could deal with the body alone.

"Since when did you get squeamish?" called Nick to her retreating back.

"I didn't, I just figured you could use the practice," she retorted.

The area of the body dump was fairly remote but, although it was known as a hunting area at certain times of the year, this wasn't one of those times, so she felt safe enough to stray a little bit without an officer escort.

Finding no tire tracks, footprints, drag marks or otherwise, Sara realized that she had probably walked in the wrong direction and about-turned to head back the way she had come, planning to walk east after that.  However, as she got closer to the dump site, her left foot dropped into a hole and she felt something clamp around her leg.  Letting out a scream, she called for help and Nick and one of the officers rushed to her position.

"Sara, what's wrong?" asked Nick as soon as he arrived.  He took in the scene in front of him and had to stifle a chuckle.  Sara had obviously partially fallen down a hole and now effectively looked like she had one leg shorted than the other.  He was about to call her a derogatory name when he saw a look of pain on her face.  "Sara, you okay?" he asked.

"Not really," she replied through clenched teeth.  "My leg is caught."

"If you got it _in_ the hole, Sara, you can get it out," Nick pointed out logically.

"It's not the _hole_ that's the problem, Nick," she snapped.

"Well, what –" he stopped suddenly, having approached Sara and looked into the hole to see for himself what the problem was.  "Oh, wow, that has to hurt," he winced.

"You don't say," said Sara sarcastically.

"What's wrong?" asked the officer who had accompanied Nick.

"It's one of those metal animal traps," explained Nick.  "It's activated itself around Sara's leg and is wedged right in the hole."

The officer cringed as Nick spoke and then regained enough composure to move forward and take a look for himself; Sara's foot was wedged in the hole at an angle and the trap was firmly dug into the hole wall and Sara's leg.

"I have a shovel in the car, if you think it would help.  Maybe we could expand the hole to get her foot out?" he suggested.

"I don't know if we'll be able to dig without it hurting Sara," said Nick.  "Go get the shovel anyway though, while I try to think of another way."

Kneeling down beside her, Nick looked from every angle to try and find a way to remove Sara's foot from the hole.  It was obvious that the trap could not be removed from her leg until her foot was free and her foot wouldn't be free until the trap was removed; a true 'catch 22' situation.

"Sara, this may take a little while, why don't you try and lower yourself to the ground, so you can rest?" Nick suggested gently.  Sara nodded and started to sit, but then let out a scream and pulled herself upright again.  Nick looked up immediately at her cry and then back down at her leg, immediately seeing the problem.  "Looks like your movement caused the trap to dig into your leg more deeply," he said, noticing the blood now oozing from her leg.

"Sure as hell feels like that," commented Sara sharply.

"Okay, whoever set this trap had to have gotten it into the hole somehow, so there must be a way to get it out," mused Nick.

"Yeah, only I'm kinda thinking that the hunter didn't want the animal to be able to run free with the trap attached to it, so he probably filled in the hole a bit around it," said Sara.

"We might have to dig you out after all then."

"It can't hurt more than it does now," she said sadly.  Nick looked up and smiled to give her some encouragement and she returned it with a weak smile of her own.  "One of you is gonna have to literally hold me up while the other digs," she said as she saw the officer returning with a shovel.  Nodding, Nick relayed her words to the officer, who took up position behind Sara while Nick tentatively dug the ground around the hole.

"I'm digging a little bit away in the hope that the dirt immediately surrounding you will collapse in, okay, Sara?"

"Sure, Nick, whatever, just hurry up."

Nick's plan worked and the ground fell in a little, without hurting Sara too much.  She started to try and wriggle her leg free, but Nick put a hand around her foot to stop her movement.

"Let me ease it out, Sara, I think it'll hurt less," said Nick.

"I bet you say that to all the girls, Nicky," laughed Sara, trying to use humor to take her mind off the pain.

"Well, I am a big guy," he grinned in reply.  Using both his hands, he grasped her leg and foot and started to slowly maneuver them free from the hole.  "There," he said triumphantly a moment later as he placed her foot on solid ground again.  The officer helped Sara to lie down and Nick carefully assessed the trap around her leg.  "I don't think I should remove this here, Sara, I don't know if it'll do more damage."

"Am I just supposed to process the scene with a trap around my leg then?" asked Sara sharply.

"No, you're supposed to go to the hospital with a trap around your leg."

"Just take the damn thing off and I'll be fine."

"No."

"Nick!"

"Sara, it's bad enough already, I don't want it to get any worse."

"Nick, if you don't take it off, I will," she insisted.

"Alright, but you're going to hospital as soon as it's removed, okay?"

"No."

"Sara, you're not getting a choice in this," he said firmly.  "Officer, can you grab the first aid kit from my trunk, I'm gonna need to wrap this wound as soon as the trap is off."

The officer nodded and returned a few moments later, handing the kit to Nick.

"Grip her leg while I hit the release mechanism," instructed Nick, removing some gauze bandage and tape from the medical kit.  He triggered the release mechanism and pulled his hands back before they got caught, watching as the trap hung loosely around Sara's leg.  Slipping it over her foot, he silently motioned for the officer to keep holding her leg while he bandaged the wound.  "Okay, Sara, I'm done, but you still need to go to hospital."

"I'm fine, Nick," she sighed.

"Sara, it could get infected, this thing doesn't exactly look new," said Nick, indicating the trap.  "We'll help you to the SUV and then I'm gonna call Grissom and get him to send someone else out to the scene, then I'll take you to the hospital, okay?"

"Why are you asking me if it's okay when you have no intention to listening to my reply?" she asked pointedly, causing Nick to chuckle.

After Sara was settled in the passenger seat, Nick pulled out his cellphone and hit the speed dial to connect to Grissom.

"Hey, Griss," he said into the phone.  "Listen, there's been a bit of an incident here and I need you to send someone else out to process the scene."

"What kind of incident?" asked Grissom.

"Sara's been hurt."

"What happened?" said Grissom urgently.

"She's okay," replied Nick quickly, realizing how much his comment had worried Grissom.  "She got her leg caught in an animal trap and stuck down a hole.  We've managed to get her out, but her leg is bleeding.  I'm gonna take her to the hospital, but I figure you'll want to send someone else out here to take over in the meantime."

Grissom pondered Nick's words and decided on a different course of action.

"No, Nick, you stay at the scene."

"But, Grissom she needs –"

"Let me finish, Nick," said Grissom sternly.  "You stay at the scene and get one of the officers to take Sara to the hospital.  I'll need to fill out an accident report, so I'll meet her at the hospital."

"Good luck with that," laughed Nick.

"What?"

"She's already refusing to let me take her to the hospital, if I tell her you're gonna meet her there, she'll hop in a cab as soon as she hits Vegas."

"So don't tell her," said Grissom logically.  "Just get an officer to take her to the hospital and I'll handle it from there."

"Okay, it'll be Desert Palms."

Ending the call, Nick walked over to the two officers at the scene and asked one of them to take Sara back to Vegas.  Officer Norson, who'd helped earlier, readily agreed and said he'd call base while Nick transferred Sara from his vehicle into the officer's car.

"Okay, Sara, you're gonna have to move again," Nick told her as he approached.  At her questioning look he explained, "Officer Norson is gonna take you to Desert Palms, Grissom wants me to stay here and keep processing."

"I'll just wait until you're finished," said Sara.

"No, you need to go now, Sara, get your wound cleaned up."

"You'll only be a couple of hours, Nick, I can wait."

"It'll probably take a bit longer than that, Sara, I still have to finish processing the body and then start on the perimeter."

"Whatever, I can wait," she repeated.

"Sara, you're going to the hospital, Grissom's orders."

Rolling her eyes and huffing a sigh, Sara started to climb out of the SUV, allowing Nick to lower her to the ground so that her leg didn't have to take too much weight.

----

"You've got to be kidding me!" muttered Sara under her breath as Officer Norson helped her into the hospital ER and she found Grissom waiting for her.  More loudly, she asked, "What are you doing here?"

"Waiting for you," replied Grissom simply.  Sara glared at him and he smirked for a moment before saying, "You got hurt at a scene, I need to fill out an accident report."

"And it couldn't wait?"

"Someone will need to take you home once you've been treated," he shrugged.

Sara ignored his comment and proceeded to the reception desk where she explained the problem and retrieved the necessary insurance forms.  She eventually slumped into a seat and started filling in the forms, jerking away slightly as Grissom sat down beside her.

"Do you need me to wait around?" asked Officer Norson after a few moments of silence.

"No, thanks, I've got it from here," replied Grissom.  Sara shot him a look, but he just raised his eyebrows in a challenging manner.

"Thanks for all your help," said Sara to the officer.

"It's no problem, I only joined the force to rescue damsels in distress," he grinned.  "If you need me to fill out any accident forms, just give me a call," he said before nodding to them and leaving.

They sat in silence while Sara completed her forms and Grissom then passed her the accident report to fill out while he handed her insurance forms to the receptionist.  Eventually, Sara was called back to a curtain by a nurse and, after much protest, finally agreed to be taken there in a wheelchair as she knew her leg would no longer support her; it had been bleeding profusely for the whole trip from the crime scene and the sheer pain was threatening to make her sick.

"Grissom, you should just go," she said as she settled into the wheelchair.  "You know how long these things can take."

"I'll wait for you, Sara.  As I said earlier, someone will need to take you home."

"I can get a cab."

"I'll wait," he repeated and further conversation was cut off as the nurse wheeled her away.

----

"So, what's the verdict?" asked Grissom as he entered the curtain area where Sara had been treated.  She had been there for nearly an hour before a nurse finally told him he could see her.

"They had to give me a couple of stitches as a couple of the punctures were pretty big and deep," she shrugged.  "They gave me a tetanus shot too, as I was due for another one soon anyway."

"And they gave you a fetching bandage too," smirked Grissom as he noticed that her left pant leg was still rolled up and a white bandage was covering her lower leg.  Rolling her eyes, Sara pulled her pant leg down.  "Have they said when you can go?" he asked.

"I can go now, the nurse is just getting me some more painkillers," she replied, starting to get up from the bed.  Grissom offered a helping hand and she leaned on him as she hopped down onto the floor.

"Should I go get the wheelchair?" he asked seriously, watching her wince as she tried to put weight onto her left leg.

"No, I'm fine," she lied.

"Sara."

"Grissom, I don't want a wheelchair, I just moved in the wrong way, that's all."

Shooting her a disbelieving look, he held out his arm for her to grab onto, but she ignored it and walked past him, limping slightly.  The nurse was just entering the curtain area as they were leaving, so Sara took the painkillers and signed the necessary form to allow her to leave.

"Let's get you home," said Grissom as they walked to the exit.

"No," said Sara, shaking her head, "I'm going back to the scene."

"What?"

"I still have processing to do.  It's a big area, Nick won't be able to do it all himself."

"He'll manage."

"Grissom, I want to back to the scene," she insisted.

"You're going home, Sara, you need to rest your leg."

"It's fine, I'm able to work."  There was an edge to her voice, but Grissom still picked up on the pleading quality and sensed she would argue all night with him if she had to, so he slowly nodded his agreement and led the way to his vehicle.

----

TBC…


	2. Part 2

Disclaimers, etc. in Part 1

Thank you so much for all the reviews so far. :-)

Part 2 of 3

----

"Grissom, Sara, what are you guys doing here?" asked Nick as they walked towards him. "How's the leg, Sara?"

"It's fine and we're here because I have a scene to process."

Nick looked at Grissom quizzically, silently wondering why he'd brought Sara back, but the look he received in return told him all he needed to know; Sara was being stubborn.

"There's not too much left to do, I'm just about to release the body," Nick told them. "I've processed most of the perimeter, but still have a few parts to cover," he said, pointing to the areas he still had to check.

"Okay, you get back to the lab, Nick with whatever you've collected so far, get Greg started," instructed Grissom.

"What?" queried Nick with shock.

"Sara and I will finish up."

"But, it's my scene."

"You and Sara were _both_ working this, Nick," said Grissom calmly, sensing the younger man's ire. "You can get a head start on the lab work and make sure Doc Robbins gets started on the autopsy."

"But, should Sara even be working right now, with her leg like that?"

Sara was about to reply, but Grissom got there first. "I'll be here to keep an eye on her and, if necessary, she can sit in the car while I finish processing the scene."

"Fine, I'll see you back at the lab," huffed Nick, stalking away from them after throwing Sara a glare.

"You didn't have to send him back," said Sara as soon as Nick had left. "He's gonna be pissed at me now."

"What was I supposed to do? The scene doesn't merit three of us being out here."

"You could have left Nick here and gone back yourself," she pointed out.

"Yes, but I need to make sure you don't overexert and, if you do, I can send you home; it's part of being a supervisor," he told her with a slight smirk.

"I'm gonna take the perimeter," she said. "You should check the body before it's released, there's plenty of bugs there to keep you occupied." Grissom didn't reply, he just shook his head and let out a sigh, so Sara gave a self-satisfied smile and picked up her field kit.

She hadn't been walking for long when she felt the pain in her leg intensify. Initially, she thought it was just the painkillers wearing off but, as she bent down to check an indentation in the ground, she felt a sharp pain. Standing up, she lifted her left leg off the ground, transferring all her weight to her good leg, and let out a hiss of pain. Before she knew what was happening, she lost her balance and toppled sideways. She shot her arms out to lessen the impact, but her reactions were dulled by the earlier painkillers and she didn't make it in time; instead, her head crashed off the ground and she felt her eyes drift closed before she could even utter a word.

It was a few minutes later when Grissom came to check on her, having just released the body and finished up at the dump site. He didn't spot her at first and his eyes roamed the desert before finally seeing her slumped on the ground. Breaking into a run, he called out her name and speeded up when he didn't receive a reply.

"Sara?" he called again as he got closer. She still didn't reply, but he noticed her move slightly and he let out a sigh of relief as he dropped to the ground beside her. "Sara, what happened?"

Opening her eyes, she met his gaze and slowly answered, "My legs gave out."

"You fell?"

"Yes," she nodded, grimacing as she moved her head.

"Did you hit your head?" he asked with urgency.

"I think so," she admitted.

"You _think_?"

"I don't really remember."

"Okay, let's get you to hospital," he said, moving his hands underneath her back.

"I don't need to go to hospital, I just need a minute to get my strength back," she protested.

"You have a possible head injury, Sara, you're going to hospital."

Knowing this was one argument she wouldn't win, she sighed, "Fine." Feeling his hands start to move again, she warned, "But I can walk, don't you dare attempt to lift me". He quickly removed his hands. She pushed herself up into a sitting position, but had to admit defeat and allow Grissom to pull her off the ground.

----

"Sara, what happened?" asked the now familiar nurse as Sara and Grissom arrived back at Desert Palms and she saw them enter the ER. "You were released, what, less than 3 hours ago and you're back again?"

"Long story," mumbled Sara in embarrassment.

"She fell and hit her head," explained Grissom. "I think she needs to be seen right away, as she doesn't remember what happened."

"Okay, take a seat for a minute and I'll see what's open," said the nurse. She walked to the treatment area and returned a moment later. "There's a curtain area open, but nobody's available at the moment to check you over. You shouldn't be left alone with a possible head injury, but my shift just ended and I really can't stay back tonight," she explained apologetically.

"I'll go back with her, if that's alright," offered Grissom. Sara opened her mouth to protest, but she was cut off as the nurse readily agreed to Grissom's suggestion.

Showing them to a curtain area, the nurse settled Sara on the bed and explained that someone would be with them as soon as possible, but they were doing a shift handover and it might take a little while.

"You don't need to stay, Grissom, I'm fine," said Sara as soon as they were alone.

"You heard the nurse, you shouldn't be left alone at the moment."

"I'm okay, I'll just sleep for a little bit."

Grissom's head whipped up to look at her and he raised a hand sharply. "No, Sara, you know that's the worst thing you can do when you have a possible concussion."

"I don't _have_ a concussion."

"You don't remember hitting your head, yet you have a bump forming on the back of your head which says you _did_ hit it, so I think we'll wait and see what the doctor says, okay? In the meantime, you're staying awake."

----

It was around ten minutes later when a doctor entered the curtain area to treat Sara. Grissom started to leave but, for a reason she couldn't fathom, Sara stretched out a hand and rested it on his arm, silently asking him to stay. He nodded and moved to the foot of the bed so that the doctor could stand beside her to make his assessment.

It didn't take long for the doctor to diagnose that she had a concussion and the x-rays confirmed that there was no skull damage.

"I can go now then?" asked Sara impatiently.

"That depends," replied the doctor.

"On what?" she demanded.

"Well, you have a concussion so, if you go to sleep, you'll need to be woken every two hours, just to check that you _can_ be woken; it's important that you don't slip into unconsciousness. Do you have someone at home who can look after you?"

Sara was about to reply, but Grissom got there first. "No, she doesn't." Suddenly realizing what he was doing, he turned to Sara and asked, "Do you?"

"No," she admitted.

"Well, in that case, we'll need to keep you in overnight," said the doctor.

"I'll be fine at home," insisted Sara. 

"I'm sorry, Sara, that's not an option," said the doctor. "Head injuries can be very serious."

"I'll stay with her," offered Grissom, looking at Sara and seeing her eyes widen in shock. She opened her mouth to protest, but Grissom continued, "It's either that or you stay here, Sara."

"I'll call someone… a friend," she said.

"Who do you want to call? I'll phone them for you," said Grissom.

"Uh… Nick, Warrick, anyone," she hedged.

Checking his watch, Grissom pointed out, "Shift ended a while ago, they're probably all at home and asleep. Sara, is it so bad to have me at your apartment? You won't even know I'm there, other than when I wake you up. What's the problem?" he asked. There was a mix of humor and hurt in his voice and Sara gave him a weak smile.

"There's no problem, I just don't want to inconvenience you."

"You won't be."

"So, you're going home?" asked the doctor for clarification.

"Yes," confirmed Sara.

"Okay, just a couple of things then. First, you'll need to be woken every two hours, as I said. I'll give you a booklet on the things to look for when she wakes up, Mr Grissom," said the doctor, waiting for Grissom's nod before continuing. "Also, you won't be able to take any painkillers, Sara, as they can have side effects that could make you very tired and that's not good with the concussion. Unfortunately, not only does that mean you're going to have one hell of a headache for a while, it also means you can't take any more pain relief for your leg injury."

"Great, just great," muttered Sara, earning a sympathetic look from Grissom.

"Is there anything she can do to relieve the pain, without medication?" asked Grissom.

"Sleep is the best thing, so do try to sleep, even though you know you have to be woken every two hours."

"How long can she sleep for? When will we know that it's safe for her to sleep normally, without having to be woken?"

"Around eight hours should be fine, but the booklet will tell you the signs to look for and should help you determine when she's okay."

Grissom nodded and the doctor took his leave, telling them he'd return in a few minutes with the booklet and Sara's release form.

"Grissom, you know this means that _your_ sleep is going to be interrupted as well, right?" said Sara.

"Yes."

"But, aren't you tired? You pulled a double yesterday."

"I'm okay. I'll catch some sleep on your couch and borrow your alarm clock so I can wake you up."

----

Sara unlocked the door to her apartment and went inside, leaving Grissom to follow her and close the door behind them.

"I um… I guess I should show you where everything is," she said hesitantly. "The bathroom is there," she continued, pointing to a closed door, "and that's my room there."

"You should get some sleep," said Grissom. "Do you want a hot drink or something?"

"Uh, yeah, I think I have some hot chocolate somewhere," she replied, walking to the kitchen area and opening cupboards. She finally found the tub of hot chocolate and set it on the counter before going to the fridge for the milk. Grissom's hand on her arm stopped her actions.

"Sara, go to bed, I'll do this," he said gently.

"You sure?"

"Just point me in the direction of your milk pan and consider it done."

Sara smiled and retrieved a pan from a drawer before silently heading to her bedroom.

"Sara, can I come in?" called Grissom through her bedroom door a few minutes later. Upon hearing her affirmative reply, he slowly entered carrying a mug of hot chocolate and set it on her nightstand. Sara was lying propped up in her bed, wearing a tank top with sweatpants just visible above the line of the blanket, and was holding a book in her hands. "I'll just leave this here for you, but drink it before it gets cold."

"Thanks."

"I'll leave the door slightly ajar, so just call if you need anything, okay?" he said seriously.

"Yeah, okay."

"I'll see you in two hours."

----

TBC…


	3. Part 3

Disclaimers, etc. in Part 1

Many thanks for the reviews. :-)

Part 3 of 3

----

It was exactly two hours later when Grissom re-entered Sara's bedroom. He knew she probably hadn't gone to sleep immediately after he left her, but he had no way of knowing when she _had_ fallen asleep, so he went with what he knew.

Since the door was already open, she didn't hear him enter and she still didn't hear him as he walked to the side of her bed. Bending over her slightly, he placed an arm on her shoulder and shook her gently.

"Sara," he said as he shook. "Sara, your two hours are up, I need to check you."

"Mmm," murmured Sara in reply.

"Sara," he repeated. "Come on, I've gone to all the bother of reading the booklet from the hospital, I want to put it into practice."

After another few moments of shaking her shoulder, Sara finally started to waken and opened bleary eyes to meet his gaze.

"Grissom?"

"Yeah. How are you feeling?"

"Okay."

"Does your head hurt?"

"A little," she admitted, sitting up and stretching.

"Okay, I'm just gonna check your pupils," he said, switching on his mini-maglite and shining it into her eyes. Satisfied that she was okay, he placed his hand on her shoulder again, this time pushing her back down into the bed. "You can go back to sleep," he told her.

"Yeah, I uh… I need to go to the bathroom," she said, pushing the covers back and standing up. Her legs were a little shaky, partly from tiredness and partly from her leg injury and Grissom was at her side in an instant, a hand hovering behind her back to steady her if she needed it. She made it to the bathroom okay and Grissom took the opportunity to remove the empty hot chocolate mug from her room, taking it into the kitchen and placing it in the dishwasher alongside his own.

"You okay?" he asked as he heard Sara leave the bathroom.

"Yeah," she replied unconvincingly.

Grissom followed her into the bedroom and waited until she was settled in bed before repeating his question.

"I'm okay, honestly."

"You look a little… peaky," he said. "You must be in pain from your injuries, do you want me to get a bucket or something, in case you become nauseous?"

"No, I'll be fine."

"You sure?"

"Yes," she insisted. "You know, bad things are supposed to happen in threes. I've already hurt my leg and hit my head, I wonder what the third thing will be."

"Let's hope there _isn't_ a third thing," commented Grissom. "Go back to sleep."

"Are you okay on the couch?"

"I'm fine, I found a blanket. Sleep, Sara."

"Night, Grissom," she smiled, settling down into her pillows.

----

Another two hours later Sara's alarm clock woke Grissom from his slumber on the couch. He sleepily reached a hand across to silence the noise and dragged himself into a standing position before he could fall asleep again. Padding to Sara's bedroom, he entered and couldn't prevent a smile from forming on his face as he looked at her. She was lying curled on her right side, the blanket splayed across her legs and her hands were clasped under her head.

He woke her once more by gently shaking her, but it didn't take as long as last time and she was soon sitting up staring at him.

"How's the head now?"

"It hurts like hell," she replied, placing a hand on her head protectively.

"Can I check?" he asked, sitting down on the bed when Sara nodded her agreement. She lowered her hand and Grissom placed his right hand on the back of her head to check the contusion. Suddenly, Sara jerked forward and raised a hand to her mouth. "Sara?" said Grissom worriedly, moving back slightly, but he was still only a few inches from her face, his eyes full of concern. Before she could stop it, Sara threw up over herself, Grissom and her bedclothes.

"Oh, God," she said with a mixture of embarrassment and shock. "I'm _so_ sorry, Grissom."

"It's okay," he said gently. "Do you think you're finished, or should I go get a bucket?" he asked with a hint of a smirk.

"I think I'm finished," she replied quietly, unable to find any humor in the situation. "Look at the state of you, Grissom," she said as she finally noticed the damage she'd done; Grissom's shirt and pants were covered in her vomit.

"Don't worry about it. Why don't you go get yourself changed and I'll sort this out." At her confused look he added, "I'll change your bed while you change yourself. Where do you keep your spare bedclothes?"

"Hall closet," she answered, pushing herself up from the bed and crossing to her dresser. Once she'd removed a change of clothes, she limped to the bathroom, her leg still causing her a great deal of pain.

"Oh, Sara?" called Grissom just as she had reached the bedroom door. She turned to look at him. "Just get cleaned up and changed, but don't take a shower."

"Huh?"

"You're too tired to shower without getting your bandaged leg wet, so don't take one."

"Oh, yeah," she nodded.

By the time Sara returned, Grissom had stripped the bed of the soiled sheets and blanket and had managed to put the new sheets on. He was changing the pillowcases when she entered.

"Did I hit the pillows too?" asked Sara with surprise.

"No, but I figured you'd want them to match the new sheets," he shrugged, finishing his task and setting the pillows on the bed. He bent down to pick up the clean blanket from its position on the floor and started to place it on the bed. Sara took one side and helped him get it into place and tuck in the ends.

"I guess I now know what the third thing was, huh?" she said as she climbed into the freshly made bed. Grissom looked at her with confusion. "I hurt my leg, hit my head and now I've thrown up over my boss."

Grissom laughed, glad that she was beginning to smile about the situation.

"You're getting a bucket beside you this time," he said firmly, pointing to the bucket he'd already placed beside the bed, but he smiled to lessen his tone. "I don't want to have to change bedsheets again."

"You should go home, Grissom, you need to change clothes."

"You still have another four hours to go before you're cleared to be on your own," he pointed out.

"But –"

"Sara, it's fine, I'll sort something out."

"I don't have any clothes for you to change into, I'm sorry."

"Go to sleep, Sara."

She was too tired to argue, drained from the exertion of vomiting as well as the pain in both her head and leg. The clean sheets and pillowcases felt cool to her warm skin and she relished in their feel as she lay back and slid down the bed a little to get comfortable.

"I'm sorry, Grissom," she said sadly as she lost her fight against her eyelids and they slipped closed.

"You have nothing to be sorry for," he whispered as he left the room.

Grissom walked into the bathroom to start to clean himself up. The bathroom was small and he couldn't find any towels, so he went back into the lounge. He knew the towels weren't in the hall closet with the bedclothes, so he figured they must be in the large closet in the lounge. He pulled the door open and a smile crossed his face as he noticed a washer and dryer in the closet, right next to a shelf full of towels. Guessing that Sara never had time to visit a laundromat, he was slightly thankful for her long hours, as it gave him an opportunity for him to wash his clothes, rather than having to drive home later in the state he was currently in.

He removed his shirt and threw it into the washer, then noticed that the mess had seeped through to his undershirt, so that was the next to be removed. Finally, he stripped off his pants and tossed them into the machine, leaving him standing in only his boxers and socks. He added the detergent and set the machine to run before wandering over to the couch and resetting the alarm to go off in another two hours. Deciding he would need to stay awake to move his clothes from the washer into the dryer, he headed for the shower.

----

As soon as the alarm went off for the third time, Grissom got up from the couch and walked to the closet containing the dryer. He had stayed awake long enough to take his clothes out of the washer and set the dryer running, but had still managed to grab about an hour of sleep. He sighed as he realized that his clothes were not yet dry and his mind went into overdrive as he tried to think how he was going to waken Sara without her noticing that he was clad only in his boxer shorts.

No useful ideas were forthcoming and he decided the only course of action was to wrap a towel around his waist, with his boxers on underneath, and hope she was sleepy enough to not notice. Walking to her bedroom door, he took a deep breath and entered.

"Sara," he said gruffly, his voice laden with sleep, "it's time for your two hourly wake up call."

She mumbled for a moment before opening her eyes slightly and raising a hand to the back of her head.

"Your head still hurting?" asked Grissom softly.

"Yeah," she said hoarsely, swallowing to try and moisten her throat.

"Hang on, I'll get you something to drink," said Grissom, leaving the room and returning a minute later with a glass of water.

"Thanks," she whispered as she took a sip. Her eyes were still half-closed and Grissom sighed with relief as he realized she had not yet noticed his lack of attire.

"I just need to check your pupils and the bump on your head and then you can go back to sleep."

"Okay," she murmured, still not fully opening her eyes. Grissom sat down on the bed and leaned forward so that only his face was visible to her when he switched on his flashlight and forced her to open her eyes. Sara grumbled a little as the light shone into her eyes, slightly dazzling her, but she complied with his quiet request to stay still while he checked her over. However, as soon as he switched off the flashlight, Sara started to sit up, bringing her into close proximity with Grissom. She still had her eyes closed, having only sat up to let him check the back of her head more easily and Grissom did this quickly before starting to move away. Sara, however, opened her eyes at that point and gasped as she came face-to-face with Grissom's bare chest. Her hands touched his shoulders of their own accord, stilling his movements and he dipped his gaze to his towel-clad lap. "Uh, Grissom, where are your clothes?" she asked with a slight chuckle.

"In the dryer," he replied, finally looking at her before further explaining, "I found your washing machine and figured I should put it to good use on my clothes after your little… incident." A blush appeared on Sara's cheeks and he smiled. "I put them in the dryer a while ago, but they're not ready yet."

"Yeah, my dryer isn't exactly the most effective," she told him. "I'm really sorry about… the incident."

"Don't worry about it, it's entirely understandable," he said nonchalantly.

Sara realized her hands were still on his shoulders and she slowly started to move them but, instead of just removing them, she found they started to drift down onto his chest. She heard Grissom suck in a breath and she looked up into his eyes, finding them starting to darken. Shifting her gaze back to her hands, she moved them lower until they were resting on the top of the towel around his waist, beneath which she could just make out the line of his boxer shorts. She was anticipating Grissom's hands removing her own at any moment, but they never did and she became bolder, running a fingertip along the towel. Her eyes drifted upwards again and she saw his adam's apple move as he swallowed. Becoming ever more emboldened, she kept running a fingertip back and forward along the towel, but now moved her other hand back up his chest, running it from top to bottom and back again, slowly and intimately.

It was as though a switch had been flicked when Grissom finally realized what was happening. His eyes focused again and he emitted a low growl, partly from arousal but partly due to annoyance at himself for letting things get out of his control.

"Sara," he said huskily, catching her wrists in his hands. She looked at him, but said nothing, challenging him to stop her. "You're hurt, Sara," he said quietly.

"So?"

"So, we can't… we can't do this."

"No, _you_ can't do this," she retaliated, reaching her fingers round to stroke his arms as they held her wrists. He automatically changed his grip so that he was now holding her hands, sighing in annoyance as he knew he'd quite literally just played into Sara's hands.

"It's your head injury that's making you do this," muttered Grissom.

"Maybe I should hit _you_ over the head," grinned Sara, though her tone was edged with hurt.

"Sara," he said warningly.

"If you don't want this, you should go, Grissom," she said challengingly.

"I can't, not yet. There's another two hours before you can be left on your own."

"See, _that's_ what I don't get!" she said with exasperation, perplexing Grissom. "You act as if you care one minute, staying with me to look after me, then the next minute you don't want to be anywhere near me."

"I'm not _acting_ as if I care, Sara, I _do_ care."

"Not enough though," she whispered, removing her hands from his grasp. He let her retract them and then settled his hands in his lap.

"That's not true, Sara."

"Then why?" she asked, her voice cracking as she rose tear-filled eyes to meet his own. He had never seen her so defenseless and knew that, if she wasn't in so much pain, she would never let him see her like that.

"You know the reasons."

"Yes, but I don't know why you don't think they're surmountable. You say that you _do_ care enough, but on the other hand you think I'm not worth the risk. You can't have it both ways, Grissom, which is it to be?"

Her words stunned him and he knew he was caught. No matter how he answered, one of them would be hurt. If he denied his feelings, she would be hurt that he was trying to lie his way out of the situation but, if he gave into the feelings and gave her what she wanted, both of their careers could be damaged, causing them to always have regrets. He shook his head and closed his eyes, trying to clear his thoughts.

"You _are_ worth the risk," he finally admitted. "But, I'm not ready. If we do this now, Sara, it'll backfire on both of us."

"You're not ready? What does that mean?" she inquired, pinning him with her gaze.

"I'm not good at relationships, I'm not a people person, you know that. I've been trying to improve, to make myself more personable, in the hope that I'd learn to open up and share my feelings, but I'm not there yet. If we entered into something, you wouldn't have all of me and you'd become frustrated."

"I'm frustrated _now_," she pointed out. "I can't keep doing this, Grissom. I told you before that it might be too late, well it's getting ever more closer to that stage, is that what you want? Do you want me to give up and move on?" He didn't answer and she sighed in irritation. "Even if you do, I won't. I might give up, but I certainly won't move on, I've tried that and got nowhere. I'm not a people person either; we're so alike it's actually scary. Can't we use that to our advantage though?" Her question piqued his interest and he looked at her again. "Can't we work through our weaknesses together? Can't we learn as we go along, take strength from one another? I think we can do this, Gil." The use of his first name surprised him and he knew she was making a last ditch attempt. She realized that she hadn't scared him away, he hadn't moved from his position on her bed, and she leaned forward to almost close the gap between them. "Can't we try?" she asked quietly, pleadingly.

He remained silent, but nodded his head, knowing he could no longer deny her, despite his insecurities and inhibitions. Deciding he should be the one to initiate things, knowing he owed her that much, he leaned forward to meet her, tilting his head to the side and brushing her lips with his.

The kiss was tender, gentle and slow. His hands moved from his lap and came to rest on her back, while her hands returned to their earlier position on his chest, the feel of his bare muscles making her shiver with desire. As his fingers traced her spine, he deepened the kiss, but only for a second, pulling back just as her mouth opened fully. She looked at him questioningly and he took a deep breath.

"You're hurt, Sara," he said in explanation, but she was none the wiser. "You have another two hours of sleep to get, at _least_ two hours. Rest and we'll talk about this later." He released her completely from his arms and stood up, but she started to rise with him. Using his hands to push her back down, he looked at her lovingly. "I'm not going anywhere other than your couch. When you're feeling better, we'll figure this out; you _are_ worth the risk."

He didn't give her an opportunity to reply as he slipped from the room and returned to the lounge, checking his clothes in the dryer along the way. Setting the machine for another ten minutes, he sat on the couch and pondered what had just happened. He knew he should feel awful, as they still had the hurdle of work to overcome, but deep down, his heart was warming and Sara's words kept replaying in his mind, "Can't we work through our weaknesses together? Can't we learn as we go along, take strength from one another? I think we can do this, Gil." Smiling as he touched his fingers to his lips, remembering the warmth of her only minutes before, he said to himself, "I think we can do this too, or at least go down fighting."

----

The End


End file.
